Lemon Raspberry Bundt Cake

This lemon raspberry bundt cake gets even better with raspberries, lemon zest and a lemon glaze poured over it. It’s super moist and is the only pound cake recipe I use.  This lemon raspberry bundt cake recipe is THE cake to make this summer!

 

When I first started this blog, I started with a simple pound cake recipe that I have made at a local culinary school. 

It was sheer perfection and I felt I had to tell the world about it. It was then that I decided to start this blog. That was back in 2011, with this Lemon Sour Cream Pound Cake Recipe.

Fast forward to 2020, with a cookbook to my name, and about 500 recipes on the blog I keep coming back to this recipe. 

I love changing it up in so many ways. And have countless times.  I have made just a lemon pound cake version, a grapefruit pound cake and a strawberry pound cake version. 

Today raspberries are going to shine in this beloved bundt cake recipe. I mean raspberries and lemon. You just know that’s going to be good. 

Why Is It Called A Pound Cake?

You might think it’s because it makes you put on a pound or two. And sure that could be true. But it’s actually because the original pound cake recipe was made with a pound of 4 ingredients- a pound of butter, pound of eggs, pound of flour, and a pound of sugar. 

I’m not actually sure then this is a true “pound cake” based on those measurements, but it is in texture and flavor. Buttery, tender crumb, light and delicate all at the same time.

What’s The Difference Between A Sponge Cake and Pound Cake?

The two major types of cake are shortened or butter cakes, like a pound cake, and and foam or sponge cakes. Sponge or foam cakes rely on air being whipped into the eggs to help the cake rise once its in the oven.  In a sponge cake, the whole egg is whisked with sugar over a double boiler and then whipped on high speed in  your mixer to incorporate the air.

With a pound cake, like this recipe the butter and sugar are creamed together and the sifted dry ingredients together. 

Ingredients Needed:

• Dry Ingredients: Flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda
• Wet ingredients: Unsalted butter, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla, and sour cream (or greek yogurt)
• Mix-ins: Fresh raspberries (or frozen – do not thaw)
• Glaze: Powdered sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla

How To Make This Lemon Raspberry Bundt Cake

You want to start by sifting your dry ingredients together. Sifting, I know, can be a pain. But it does help to evenly mix your dry ingredients and help aerate the mixture creating a light fluffy cake. So stop whining, grab the sifter and get to sifting.

In a small bowl, you want to zest your lemon. And stir in the sour cream and vanilla extract.  

Then you want to cream together your butter and sugar. Then add in your eggs one at a time until they are thoroughly mixed in. 

Then alternate the sour cream mixture and your dry ingredients. You want to start with the dry ingredients and end with the dry ingredients. I add the dry ingredients in 3 batches, and the sour cream mixture in 2 batches.

And then go ahead and fold in your raspberries. Be gentle!

Then go ahead and spray your bundt cake pan. You want to wait and do this at the end. The non stick cooking spray can slip down the sides of the bundt pan if its done too early. And then go ahead and spoon the batter into the pan and bake for about 50 minutes in a preheated oven. 

Tips On Greasing The Bundt Pan

All those beautiful edges can be a real nightmare for getting your cake out. A few tips:

1. Grease and flour your pan right before filling. The longer the coating sits the more it has a tendency to slide down the sides. 
2. Grease and flour it properly and thoroughly. I like to place plastic wrap over the pan and shake the flour around. You can read about how to grease your bundt pan here. 
3. Use cake release. It’s magical stuff and easy to make it yourself. Your cake will just slide right out. 

Recipe Tips

• Careful when zesting. When zesting the citrus, make sure to go only down to the white pith layer. The white pith layer is bitter so you want to make sure to not zest this layer, just the outer layer.
• Soften Your Butter. You want properly softened butter so that you can cream mixture properly. The sugar punches holes into the butter creating air pockets, which helps to aerate and help the cake to rise. Here are 3 quick ways to soften your butter. 
• Bring your eggs to room temperature.  You don’t want cold eggs being added to your creamed butter mixture. It will seize up the butter. So place your eggs in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes before using them. 
• Test For Doneness: To test when lemon raspberry cake is done, I like to use a long wooden skewer to insert into the cake and see if there are moist crumbs that cling to it. My biggest worry is overbaking it. So making sure my oven temperature is running correctly, I can then set my timer and check it with the skewer to ensure it’s done properly and not overbaked.

Recipe FAQ’s

More Recipes To Try

• Lemon Sour Cream Pound Cake Recipe
• Strawberry Pound Cake
• Raspberry Pound Cake
• Vanilla Sponge Cake
• Lemon Cookies Recipe
• Raspberry Brownies